Puppy Love
by FrequencyOnion
Summary: Urz and Kaidan may not always see eye to eye, but they'll always have one thing in common-their love for John Shepard. Urz POV.


Living on the Citadel with two Spectres as your owners is about as cushy as things could get for a varren like me: guaranteed meals every day, including some snuck-under-the-table treats; a comfy place to sleep, be it in my own bed or theirs (but only when Kaidan isn't around); lots of traveling to places varren have probably never been to; and more love and attention than I could possibly ask for or expect.

If there's anything I could complain about, it's the lack of warmth from the artificial sunlight. I flop over in the mid-afternoon sunbeam and pretend to warm my other side.

Well, that and Kaidan not always being around, which pretty much never fails to disappoint both me and John. But John's not always around either-the difference is he's not gone for nearly as long.

At least today it's one of those nice lazy afternoons when everybody's home for once. Kaidan's laying on the couch reading something while John's napping on top of him. I think we're all kind of worn out from all the excitement of Kaidan's return last night, although I'm not sure who's more tired. Halfway through the night I finally had to leave my usual spot in front of their bedroom door and go sleep in the kitchen. Between the hum of the refrigerator and gurgling from the fish tank, the louder of their sounds were at least drowned out.

Things weren't always this good, though. When I was born on the krogan planet, my first memory was waking up one night cold and alone-my mother and siblings had abandoned me. I thought for sure I was as good as dead until this krogan-aunt Bakara-found me. I later found out that I'd been abandoned because I was too small, a "runt" everybody kept saying. Which is how I ended up here.

_Being stuffed into the small metal crate had been terrifying at first, but no threat ever appeared. Rocked by the gentle sway of vehicles and near constant hum of engines, the little varren pup eventually curled up into a ball and went to sleep. He didn't wake until he heard lots of noise and unfamiliar voices. Pressing his nose to one of the small holes in the side of the crate, he found there were just as many unfamiliar smells, too._

_"Shepard! You're as scrawny as a pyjak! How'd you survive another year like that?"_

_"Good to see you, too, Wrex."_

_Who was this "Shepard" Wrex spoke of? The pup felt the crate move between the two before being set down._

_"Would've been here sooner, but we were trying to catch your gift."_

_The lid was lifted and the pup blinked his eyes as he tried to adjust them to the sudden bright lights. He shrank back as strange hands-so soft and warm compared to leathery krogan ones-reached into the crate to gently lift him out. Wide, joyful blue eyes and skeptical brown ones looked back at him. So this man must be Shepard._

_The pup turned his attention to the other man leaning on the couch behind Shepard. The little varren wagged his tail, causing his entire body to wriggle like a snake in Shepard's hands. Letting his tongue loll out of his toothy little maw, the pup reached toward the other man, trying to coax a smile out of him. The man's expression finally softened and he held a hand out for the pup to sniff._

_"I can't believe how much he looks like Urz," Shepard marvelled. "So how about we call you 'Urz', too, huh?" The pup turned its attention back to him and wagged its tail in approval._

_Urz was passed to a young woman with shoulder length black hair, who squealed in delight. She carefully cradled him like a baby in her arms while she tickled his soft belly. Everyone else gathered around her, eager to get a better look at the little creature. They were much more used to fighting varren than loving them._

_The man built like a krogan laughed. "Damn, Loco, I didn't think you could get any crazier."_

The creak of the couch shifting behind me catches my attention. I look up to see that John's now awake and whispering something to Kaidan. Kaidan just smiles and nods. He whispers something back and touches John's cheek with the backs of his fingers before going back to his reading.

Undeterred, John whispers in response before smirking and burying his nose in the crook of Kaidan's neck. I can't tell what he's saying or doing, but it's effective enough to get Kaidan to set his datapad aside and pay attention. "What about Urz?" he asks, in a slightly louder tone of voice that I can only guess is meant for me to hear.

"He'll be fine for an hour or two. It's too early for his dinner or a walk anyway."

John gets up from the couch and offers Kaidan a hand. He never lets go, instead leading him off down the hallway. And here I thought they'd be tired from last night.

I yawn and drop my head back onto my paws. It's nice to feel trusted. Not too many years ago this wasn't the case.

I'm a varren-some days it feels like I was born to destroy things. At the very least, thanks to all the teeth and strong bite, I still ruin things even when I don't mean to. And as a puppy, new teeth growing in hurt so much I couldn't help but chew on anything within reach to try and relieve some of the pain. Unfortunately, this meant quite a few destroyed shoes, at least one of John's leather jackets, and all kinds of other things carelessly left in my reach. I'm pretty sure a wooden table disappeared during that time...

Still, John just took it in stride-Kaidan, not so much.

_"Urz!" The exasperation in Kaidan's voice carried all the way to the living room. He rarely raised his voice for anything, but Urz knew the right buttons to push._

_John scratched Urz's head. "What'd you do?" he smirked. Urz just looked up at the man, opening his mouth and showing off his teeth in the closest approximation to a smile that a varren could manage. The result was equal parts adorable and disturbing._

_Kaidan appeared from the hallway holding up a boot, or at least what looked like one. It was kind of hard to tell given how mangled the object was. "He ate another one."_

_"He's still a puppy, Kai, you know how they are."_

_"Normal puppies don't eat steel-toed boots, John. And why always the left one? Why can't he at least eat them in pairs?" His voice seemed to get higher in direct proportion to his annoyance._

_The younger man said nothing, instead pretending to be more interested in tracing one of the dusty violet stripes along Urz's back. He didn't want to have this discussion again. How or why Urz only seemed to like destroying Kaidan's stuff was beyond him, but it was definitely a problem he still didn't know how to address._

_Getting no answer, Kaidan just shook his head in frustration and disappeared back down the hallway._

_Urz hopped off the couch and skittered across the tile floor, following him back into the bedroom. Letting his head droop in a show of submission, Urz trotted across the floor and hesitantly approached the cross-legged man sitting on the floor. When he didn't get shooed away, Urz carefully rested his chin on Kaidan's knee, whimpering an apology._

_"Why do you like to eat my stuff so much, huh?" He sighed in defeat and began scratching Urz between the shoulders. Despite how many of his things had been lost to that giant maw of destruction (Seriously, why always his stuff?), he just couldn't stay mad at Urz for very long. Partially because John loved him so much, but also because Urz really was a good "dog" the rest of the time. He was actually thankful for the little varren, glad that Urz both protected and kept John company while he was away._

_Looking back up into the closet, Kaidan's gaze settled on an identical pair of boots sitting next to his lonely right boot. Smirking, he grabbed the smaller left boot and waved it in front of Urz._

_Urz immediately popped up on full alert, eyes fixed trance-like on the boot. His mouth watered at the prospect while his rump wiggled in anticipation. Unable to sit still any longer, jaws opened slowly as they aimed for the boot. When the object wasn't moved, he snapped it up._

_"Go on," Kaidan shooed him off. "Go show daddy." _

_Urz chomped on the boot, a happy little growl coming from deep in his throat. He turned around and bounded out of the room with his prize._

_"Kaidan!"_

And that was the last time I ate something I wasn't supposed to.

The puppy problems had worn off about that time anyway. I was also noticing a connection between my not eating things and their not arguing. Kaidan had always kept me at arms' length, letting John take care of me. He'd feed or walk me if John asked, but that was it; I was John's responsibility and he'd tolerate me because of that.

And that's not to say he was a bad person, because he wasn't. Nor did I focus on his things because I didn't like him. Actually it was the reverse. He had seemed like such a nice person, especially to John, that I wanted him to like me like that, too. When he didn't pay much attention to me, I found I could get that attention back by chewing on his stuff. It was misguided, but I just didn't know any better at the time.

After that incident, he seemed to warm up to me a bit, but was still wary-probably expecting me to lapse into old behavior. But then there was that time they took me along to visit uncle Wrex and aunt Bakara. Everything changed after that.

_The shuttle door hadn't completely opened before Urz bounded through the doorway and out into the bright light of Tuchanka. The dust kicked up by the shuttle finally settled around him as he busied himself with taking in all the sights and sounds and smells. Urz cocked his head, listening to the clangs of a construction project nearby._

_He lifted his snout to the breeze, nostrils twitching as he picked up both old and new scents. Of particular interest was the faint whiff of something meaty-and no doubt delicious-woven through a tapestry of other scents. A single thread just begging to be pulled, leading him to a savory treat on the other end. He was so taken by the scent that he never noticed John kneel down next to him until he felt a hand on his head._

_"Smell something good, huh?" John lifted his own head to try and figure out what had Urz's undivided attention. Had to be something pretty special because the varren usually had the attention span of a goldfish._

_Kaidan couldn't help but crack a smile as he walked up behind the pair. They always said pets resembled their owners, although this probably wasn't what was in mind. "So who's wearing the leash?"_

_John looked over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes when he saw the cheeky grin on the other man's face. "Funny," he drawled sarcastically while trying-and failing-to hide his own smirk. He swiped the reinforced leather leash from Kaidan's hand and clipped it onto Urz's collar._

_He slipped his right hand through the loop at the end of the leash and stood up, nearly toe to toe with Kaidan. He looked up at the taller man. "When did you get a sense of humor?", he challenged, smirk growing wider every second._

_Without missing a beat Kaidan replied, "When I married you."_

_Before their lips could touch, Urz tugged on the leash-hard-yanking John backwards. The varren looked back at the two and snorted in disapproval. He knew how they worked. They wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon if this kept up._

_"Ok, boy," John laughed. "Lead the way."_

_They had barely walked ten feet when a much larger, much angrier varren came barreling after them. The beast was at least twice as large as Urz, a couple hundred pounds of solid muscle and a voracious appetite for much smaller... anything. Its stomach was set on an Urz-sized snack and plowing into John didn't seem to slow it down._

_John lurched forward, stumbling but trying to keep his balance. An awkward step shifted too much of his weight onto his bad left leg, the knee buckling under the sudden strain. Throwing his hands out to break the impending fall into the dirt, he realized too late that the leash was slipping off his hand. "Urz!"_

_Kaidan reacted instantly, lobbing a glowing blue orb at the beast. The biotic orb hit Urz's assailant squarely in the side, sending the yelping varren flying through the air. With the beast distracted for the moment, Kaidan had enough time to help John to his feet, slipping an arm around his waist to steady him._

_But the throw only seemed to piss the varren off further._

_It quickly found its footing once more and took advantage of Urz's hesitation. The beast rammed into Urz with the force of a freight train, knocking the much smaller varren over. Urz kicked the varren off with his back legs and quickly rolled over to shield his vulnerable belly. The beast shook its head and lunged once more, this time hitting home as its teeth sank into Urz's shoulder._

_Urz howled in pain, unable to shake the other varren. But just as quickly as the attack had started, it stopped with the beast frozen in place. The little varren managed to limp away, looking back to see his owners surrounded by blue halos. John was walking in the opposite direction, shouting obscenities at someone Urz couldn't see._

_The stasis bubble popped, sending a clear warning to the varren once trapped inside to get the hell out of there. If that didn't work, the imposing figure stalking toward them would make the message loud and clear. Urz shrank back, having never faced Kaidan's full wrath; the clenched fists and jaw, the ominous blue glow sparking in his eyes._

_The warning didn't get through to the beast, but seeing the biotic standing over him did._

_With the threat gone, Kaidan relaxed and kneeled down next to Urz. "Hey, boy," he murmured, rubbing Urz's nose. "It's ok."_

_Urz relaxed under the gentle hands and closed his eyes. The cool gel being carefully rubbed into his wounds sent a pleasant shiver down Urz's spine. He was already feeling a bit better._

_Kaidan stood up and wiped his hands off on his pants. He took a step to Urz's other side and kneeled down once more, scooping the little varren up into his arms. Urz huffed in relief and nuzzled contentedly against the man's arm._

He never did let me go until we got to Wrex's home. Even then, he took it upon himself to properly clean and bandage the wound_._ John repeatedly offered to help, but was waved off every time. He ended up just sitting there and watching the whole thing with his chin in hand and a smile on his face.

I'm not really sure what changed, but after that day Kaidan also started taking care of me himself. Not just for John's sake, but because he genuinely wanted to. And since then, there's also been a lot less arguments between them.

I get up and stretch, flexing forward and back until even my toes are loose and relaxed. Hopping up onto the couch, I nose under a pillow to drown out the noises coming from the bedroom. Yes, a lot less arguments...

It's never dull around here, that's for sure, and things are usually even more exciting whenever John takes me to work with him. Most days are a pretty steady stream of visitors and it's my job to make those visitors as uncomfortable or intimidated as John needs. When he's not giving me the signals to work, I spend the rest of the day patrolling his large office or snoozing on something. On really slow days, we even manage to sneak in a nap together on one of the equally large couches.

For the most part it seems like the people that are close to John like me and are amused by my presence. But there are the select few that would disagree, one being that asari councilor who's had it out for me since day one. After the other day, though, it'll be interesting to see how she reacts to me now.

_Councilor Tevos whisked through the door and into John's office, her air of superiority as intact as ever. Despite everything that had happened, she still held a bit of an unfair grudge against the man who had failed her planet in it's darkest hour, leaving Thessia with that much more work to rebuild it. At least John was more pleasant to deal with than Udina had been, but there was still that dog he almost always brought to work with him._

_"That beast is still here?" she sniffed in disdain and motioned towards the couch._

_Urz sat up and demonstrated his flexibility for her, stretching his leg over his head before proceeding to clean the private property. That's how much he thought of her. He much preferred Bailey or Hackett-at least they were always happy to see him. So much so they kept treats stashed in their pockets and always wanted to play for a bit before getting down to business with John._

_Tevos scowled. "What a disgusting creature."_

_John didn't even try to hide his laughter. "You needed something, Councilor?"_

_She moved to his desk and swatted his feet off the large piece of furniture. "Of course. I certainly did not stop by because I missed your charming personality."_

_Leaving the two to discuss their boring political matters, Urz hopped off the couch and headed out to the balcony for his regularly scheduled afternoon nap. He enjoyed the fresh air and watching all of the cars go flying by. And if he got lucky, one of those funny looking birds might land just a little too close for its own good. He flopped down onto his usual spot, licked his lips in anticipation, and quickly dozed off listening to Tevos drone on and on about something._

_When he woke half an hour later, Urz immediately noticed the bird sitting in the large potted plant at the opposite corner of the balcony. Picking away at something in the dirt, the bird conveniently had its back turned to the varren's watchful eyes. The little feathered creature paused for a moment to preen itself before going back to picking at whatever it had found. A large green frond obscured it mostly from view, but that would just make things that much easier for Urz._

_Urz's backside slowly rose, waiting for the right moment to lunge forward like a tightly coiled spring being loosed. Confident the bird didn't notice, he leapt across the balcony in only a few lengthy strides. The bird didn't know what hit it as it was snapped up by those fearsome jaws, unable to get out any sound._

_Thrilled with his achievement, Urz trotted around the large glass divider and sat down at the side of the desk to show off his prize. He wagged his tail for good measure._

_"My Goddess!" Tevos gasped._

_"Good boy," John drawled, throwing a smirk in her direction._

_Urz took the praise as his cue to make the bird disappear down his gullet. He threw his head back and tossed the bird into the air, catching it with a snap of his jaws. As he chomped down on it, the nauseating sounds of tiny bones crunching and squish of soft tissue was not lost on the asari Councilor._

_Covering her mouth in horror, Tevos quickly stood up. "That monster!"_

_John shrugged. "What? He's a carnivore, he's gotta get protein somehow."_

_She hurried to the door and glared at both of them. "Animals! How does your husband put up with both of you?" she asked, completely in disbelief. War hero be damned, sometimes she couldn't figure out how this man was suitable for his diplomatic position. Or any position not involving him shooting things, for that matter._

_Folding his arms behind his head while he sat back and propped his feet up on the desk, John just flashed her a toothy grin. "Why don't you bend over this desk and I'll show you," he smirked. He enjoyed these moments way too much. At least it livened up his day in between all the boring meetings and paperwork._

_Tevos' jaw dropped in shock before she stormed out the door._

I regret nothing-those birds are delicious.

By now I can hear doors opening and closing and the shower being turned on. The "sun" has already started to set, so hopefully that means dinner's soon. Pushing the pillow off, I sit up and put my paws on the back of the couch to watch the fish in the wall tank. The eels are still weaving through the swaying seaweed while the little opaque jellyfishes bob along, the circulating water directing their movements.

Soon enough I hear the water shut off. There's some muffled voices and then I hear someone coming down the hall, their bare feet slapping against the ceramic tiles.

"Come on, Urz!" I can hear Kaidan's voice before I ever see him. When he does turn the corner, he's busy pulling on a dark gray tee shirt. Still sitting on the couch, I watch him walk towards the front door. He slips into a pair of sandals and picks up my leash from the small side table. Turning around, he walks to the couch and clips the leash onto my collar before flopping down next to me. My nostrils twitch as a familiar, pleasant herbal scent fills them.

Kaidan tips his head back against the couch. "We're waiting, John!" he calls out.

Moments later John appears, combing his fingers through his damp hair. "So impatient," he tsks, picking up the end of my leash and heading for the door.

"Sounds familiar," Kaidan teased, getting up from the couch. John just smiles as they lace their fingers together.

I wish everyday could be like this.


End file.
